Epoch
by Bookworm452
Summary: Spoilers for The Force Awakens. General Organa sent Rey to find Luke... But somehow Rey doesn't think this is what she meant.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is the first chapter that I'm just putting up to gauge people's reactions. This will be continued after** ** _Vision_** **, alongside** ** _The DVD_** **. Happy New Year! Quotes from Revenge of the Sith and Return of The Jedi, which I obviously don't own.**

Rey's eyes flicked from the unfamiliar co-ordinates to the blur of stars that was hyperspace once again for the fifth time. There was a knot of foreboding in her stomach, a bad feeling that made her want to throw up.

"Would you mind taking the controls for a bit?" She asked.

'Sure.' Chewie roared and nodded.

As she exited the cockpit, into the main hall, she pressed herself against the metal wall and breathed. Deep breathes. In and out. In and out. Her heart was pounding in her chest and her stomach squirmed. She was flying, soaring. She felt at one with the stars and wind… Aside the bad feeling in her stomach. It pinned her down like lead, stopped her from flying and she hated it.

Would Luke not accept her? Is that what this feeling was? A warning? Or was it a sign that things were about to get much worse?

Then Chewie's roaring became apparent as did R2's wild, frantic beeping – she'd just been too lost in her thoughts to hear them. Oh Force, what was happening? Was it the First Order?

She ran into the cockpit. The lights and dials were spinning and flashing.

"What's going on?" She demanded.

Chewie let out a series of distressed roars.

"The hyperdrive's faulty?!" She shrieked. Had Han Solo known how bad that was? What the effects were?

The blur of stars were blindingly bright now, it was hurting her eyes. The Force was screaming in her ears. It hurt so bad that she thought she would throw up. There were black stars dancing her vision. She violently retched and passed out as a sun appeared in her vision.

 _The heat was far stronger than Jakku. It was pulsing and oppressive as it flowed up from the molten lava rivers._

 _"You were the Chosen One!" A man yelled._

 _"I HATE YOU!" Another man screamed gutturally._

 _The dark rock and heat became a blur, spinning. Round and round. The darkness settled into a cold white hallway. In front of her, a mammoth of black stood, talking to someone who she couldn't see. Mechanical breathing that made it hard to think. He made her breath freeze her throat, fear piercing her brain – so hard to think through it. His guilt, sadness and pure cold rage was battering her brain. Made her want to scream, it hurt so bad. She'd never felt so much darkness._

 _Then behind him, a blinding pillar of light that burnt away the darkness and anger. It felt so soothing… Like a balm against the pain._

 _"That name no longer has any meaning." The terrifying figure spoke in a deep voice that struck fear in her very soul… Was this Darth Vader? The legend who Kylo Ren was so determined to be like?_

 _Kylo Ren's power and presence was nothing compared to Vader's. It was like comparing a pebble to a boulder or a boulder to a mountain. Was that a lightsabre in his hand?_

 _"It is the name of your true self." The other person said in determination and patience but also in what sounded like resignation. "You've only forgotten. I know there is good in you. The Emperor hasn't driven it from you fully."_

Dull groaning met her ears… Then Rey realised. It was her. What was that? Had that been another vision? She opened her eyes a crack and they burnt from the bright sunlight. A familiar feeling beneath her fingers – a hot, grainy substance. Sand and the overbearing pulses of heat… Was she back on Jakku? Fuck... Please, please don't let her be back on Jakku. The one time she hoped not to go back there since this entire thing had begun.

She cursed to herself.

"Hello?" A young voice said. It was a boy's voice… And it sounded somewhat familiar.

Rey pushed herself to her feet, groaning.

"Hello." She replied, inwardly cringing as she heard her voice. It sounded harsh and unpleasant to her own ears.

"Are you okay?" The boy continued.

"I-I think so."

She turned around to face the boy. He beamed at her, his face threatening to split the grin was so big. He looked so hopeful. He was cute, she supposed. Probably about her age with a shag of wavy blonde hair, bright blue eyes the colour of the sky, an adorable cleft in his chin and tanned from the desert. His white clothes were stained by sand.

"Hi." He said.

"Hi." She echoed shyly.

He offered her a hand and she gratefully took it. His hands were rough; workers hands. She brushed herself and saw just how short he was.

"I'm sorry, I don't know your name. Thanks for that." She smiled at him, holding out a hand. "I'm Rey."

He took her hand, obviously excited. "Hi. I'm Luke Skywalker. Nice to meet you."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Please say if any characters are out of character! I'm sorry if that's the case and feel free to offer advi** **ce or suggestions** **. Thank you to Fusionbolt15 for beta-reading the first part of this chapter.** **This was supposed to be out over Easter… Oops… Hope you guys like it and think this chapter was worth the wait! Tell me if there are any dialogue inaccuracies! Obviously some of this dialogue comes from A New Hope.**

 **Beru Skywalker, I think it's been officially said that Rey is 19 in Force Awakens.**

 **In other news, OMG! ROGUE ONE! … Could Jyn be the figure in the cloak, bowing with the imperial guards (which generally mean the Emperor…) to the … is it a bacta tank? Like officially? But yeah. Just an idea…**

 **Also Rey wears white for most of Force Awakens and then grey at the end…. Is this the beginning of Rey's possible descent into being a Sith? Or am I just reading too much into it? Is uni driving me round the bend? Possibly…..**

 **Let me state for the record that I don't believe the Rey-is-Anakin theory. From what I've heard (besides the fact that it is easy to fake a script leak), the main evidence is that she knew her way around Starkiller base and knew mechanics… She grew up as a scavenger where she had to collect mechanical pieces to survive - she had to know which bits were the most valuable and she collected them from Star Destroyers - whose layout and have the same mechanical things as Starkiller base - please see the novelisation… I don't like that theory; that's essentially saying that she can't know mechanics because she is a girl without there being some big thing behind it; at least to me. Besides, we've already seen that mechanical skills can be inherited (at least in the Star Wars 'verse) you know see Luke and Anakin as an example… Also Anakin is a Force Ghost. We saw that in ROFJ and he was going to be in TFA… I read on the wiki that the Visual Dictionary that the Cosmic Force was affected by Rey's abilities awakening; still doesn't mean she is reincarnated Anakin. Okay, I'm going to stop ranting.**

Rey stared at the boy. He was younger than her… How was he Luke Skywalker?

Unless… No… Was that possible?

One of the few memories she had of her father was one of him telling her about Jedi and the Force. Time travel hadn't been mentioned… But, she supposed, there was a first time for everything. Her dad had even told her that the information in the Jedi archives had been lost during the Purges so not even Luke Skywalker would have known about the limits of Jedi powers, never mind her father.

"You look confused… Is everything okay?" Luke (surely not?) asked.

"What year is it?" She demanded.

"19 AE. How long have you been out here? You could have sunstroke!" His eyes were wide and concerned.

AE... After Empire. 0 BBY...

"I'm fine." She grounded out as she looked out at the hot, desert landscape. It looked almost the same as Jakku – the same bland sand that stretched as far as the eye could see. The only differences was the two suns pulsing down with unbearable heat and where Jakku was mostly flat or dune-y, Tatooine was decorated with sandy rock formations… It had a much better view then Jakku.

Unless this was some kind of hostage situation by Kylo Ren and the First Order (and that feeling in her stomach, the Force, was telling her that it wasn't), then she really had travelled through time. Oh… Force…

Maybe she could take this Luke Skywalker back to the future with her, to help fight the First Order. Would General Organa appreciate it? Maybe… Maybe not. The Luke Skywalker she had been sent to find knew Kylo Ren. This one didn't.

"You want to come inside? Out of the sun?"

The Force pulsed… Was that a yes? It wasn't the nauseous-going-to-make-you-throw-up feeling she had had on the Starkiller Base. It was more akin to the warm, glowing sense of belonging that she had got when her fingers had brushed the cool polished metal of the Skywalker lightsabre. So she supposed that the Force wanted her to say yes?

It such an odd, out of the place feeling that it had scared her into running away. Straight into the arms of Kylo Ren – even scarier.

Rey swallowed.

"Sure." She forced the word out of her lips… Wait, the Force? She reached out with her mind, to the peaceful waves of the Force and looked at him.

Force, he was blinding. The Force was so strong with him and so bright that it was blinding but not like the burning bright of the sun on Jakku that seemed to scorch everything it touched but a warming, gentle bright, like the safety of her father's arms in her scarce memories of him.

Yes, he was Luke Skywalker… Yes, this was the past.

Something about Force signature was screaming untrained. She couldn't place what it was but she knew that she'd sensed untrained signature before and had been taught about them before.

Her hands went to her bag and touched the metal of the lightsabre. Suddenly she let out a breath she didn't realise that she had been holding and instantly regretted it when she choked on sand.

"K-kriff…I'm okay." She gasped out, holding up a hand and attempting to smile reassuringly. It felt more like a grimace.

He led her to her to what was basically a sand coloured shack. This was Luke Skywalker's home? Somehow it wasn't what she pictured.

He led her down through the dome, down into a courtyard-like crater and through a door. This was their living room… It was so much bigger than her cold grey abandoned Walker of a home. It felt… Nice? Warm? She couldn't place the feeling. But she liked it.

"Luke, is that you?" A woman's voice floated in from another room.

"Hey, Aunt Beru." He called as he fell into a chair. An aged brown haired woman traipsed through the door.

"Oh," the woman smiled. "Hello, are you a friend of Luke's?"

Rey glanced at Luke. Should she say yes?

"I found her on the property, Aunt Beru. Knocked out, maybe sunstroke?" Luke spoke up.

"Oh, you poor dear."

"No, I don't. I'm fine." She insisted. "I just didn't take as much water with me as I should have. I just need some water, I'll be fine."

Beru and Luke stared at her with the same uncomfortable expression. Luke's bright, hopeful eyes was the most uncomfortable between the two of them.

"Are you from Tatooine?" The woman questioned.

"No." Rey admitted. "I'm from Jakku."

"Where's that?" Luke piped up with excitement.

"It's not much different from here. A desert junkyard. Mainly scavengers."

Despite her description, Luke didn't look put off. In fact, he looked even more bright-eyed.

"Luke, please don't bug…" Beru trailed off, looking at Rey.

"Rey." She said.

"Rey." The woman nodded. "She's most likely tired."

"I'm fine-" Rey protested.

"Listen, the Jawa's are almost here and your uncle wants your help. Rey, could you help me set the table? I'm afraid we won't have enough food for you but I'm sure I could scrape something together."

"Thank you." She nodded as Luke headed back into the courtyard.

* * *

The kitchen, like the rest of the homestead, was small, meagre and consisted of the bare basics. But once again, it was more home than the hollowed out Walker had ever been.

Rey was drinking a glass of foul-tasting blue milk that Beru was practically shoving down her throat. The older woman was checking the meat that was slowly cooking. Considering she'd only survived on the Portions on Jakku and rations on the Resistance base, this was the grandest meal she would ever have. Her mouth was practically watering.

"Luke called you aunt. Are Luke's parents here?" She asked, curiously, unable to help herself. After all, she was with Luke Skywalker, the myth before he became a myth.

But she knew that had been the wrong thing to ask as Beru dropped the cutlery with a loud clatter. Rey leapt to help her but Beru motioned for her to wait as she picked them up and placed them on the side.

"It's okay. I should have expected that question." Beru sighed, suddenly looking even older and more aged. The woman's blue eyes burned into her.

Suddenly Rey felt small, like a child who had just been caught, like she had been doing something bad; such as when she had when Unkar Plutt had once caught her trying to work on some of his ship's engines as a child (though he'd never let her near the Millenium Falcon) or the times during her childhood, when she hadn't been as good with machinery and scavenging, when she hadn't been able to gather anything worthwhile to trade for food and Plutt had unwilling gave her the minimum portion he could had given her, to keep her alive for some assumed deal he had made with her mysterious birth parents… Or who she assumed was her birth parents.

"Luke is my husband's stepbrother's child… His father died before he was born, his mother died because of complications in the birth. We're his closest family." The woman told her.

Rey stared at her hands.

So neither of them had known their families. She could empathise… Which was a strange thought. Whenever she had thought of Luke Skywalker, she thought of the way one of the older women had told the story when she was a child.

A brave young man rose from the ashes of the Republic, from the deadly sands of Tatooine to become a hero and defeat the Empire. He was a very powerful Jedi. His name was Luke Skywalker.

His name was spoken in whispered reverence by the people of Jakku. In the Resistance, his name was treated almost the same way, although it was mainly whispered because people were afraid to say it in front of General Organa. Apparently none of them had wanted to upset her. She hadn't seemed that upset to Rey but then she hadn't known her long. So maybe there was more scars there then she originally thought.

That had been the biggest shock. After finding the map, the general had told them that they would set off the following afternoon; once everything was packed and they'd all rested. But when she's been taken one of the bunks, the general had been waiting for her.

 _General Organa smiled sadly. "Poe came to talk to me." The older woman confessed. "I thought you might like some company."_

 _"I'm sorry." Rey's voice cracked. "Han was your friend-"_

 _Organa looked at her sadly. "He didn't tell you?"_

 _"He didn't tell me much. He said someone called Leia didn't want to see him and that was about it. Never said who Leia was to him. He didn't talk much about his past, ma'am."_

 _The General laughed softly. "He was talking about me, my name is Leia. You didn't think it was General, did you? Han is - was - my husband."_

 _"Oh." Wait, that meant... Kylo Ren was... "OH."_

 _"Ben - he - he wasn't always like that." General Organa sighed. "As a child, he was very... He was very-" Her voice broke and she swallowed. Her eyes swam with unshed tears._

 _"Ben was very compassionate. As a child, he was always bringing back injured animals and nursing them back to health with Han..."_

 _Rey reached over and grabbed General Organa's trembling hand with her own callused ones._

 _"He and Han... The two of them used to go to this restaurant... The owner knew Han by name, gave Ben some candy every time they left. When Ben was six, he made up this game that he used to play with Han and Chewie..."_

 _The General let out a shaky breath."When he was nine, his force abilities finally showed up. The_ _re was always something there but they showed up in a big way and we could no longer ignore it._ _We knew_ _it_ _would happen, it was just a guessing game of when they would. He went off to train with Luke shortly after. We did see him frequently but there was something off... It was like he wasn't entirely Ben anymore. It wasn't until years later that we realised Snoke was whispering in his ear. He must have been_ _biding_ _his time, waiting for Ben to leave me. Snoke knew I could protect him."_

 _"... How did Han know Luke? He said that he knew Luke... But he never - They must have been close." Rey fumbled over her words._

 _General Organa nodded. "Yeah, they were close... On my wedding day, Luke was struggling to walk me down the aisle because Han had taken him out to get drunk._ _First and last time, he ever got drunk." A weary smile graced her lips for a moment before it faded away._

 _"You two were close?" Rey asked in surprise. She supposed that made sense if he and her husband was close._

 _General Organa cracked a slight grin. "You don't know?_ _I'm surprised."_

" _Know what, General?"_

" _Luke is my brother."_

 _Her eyes widened. "Oh." She breathed._

 _The two lapsed into silence._

 _She never pictured Luke Skywalker having relatives or a family. She only saw a lone warrior, scarred by loss._

 _"Do you remember your family?" The General asked._

 _The question made her pause. She did remember her family. The memories were vague but they were there. She'd been too young to know her parents by any name aside from mom and dad. But she could feel her father's joy; it wrapped around her like a warm glow._

 _My little ray of light... he always called her that in her memories. It was what she had derived her name from, when she was on_ _Tatooine and could no longer remember her actual name._

 _So why did you give me up? Why did you leave?_

 _Surely I couldn't have meant that much to you._

 _She felt the General's eyes burning into her. She hadn't answered the question._

 _Instead she told her of her clearest memory. It wasn't exciting, she told the older woman. Her parents were blurry images; neither of their faces were clear enough for her see any truly defining features. Her mother wore a_ _dark battered jacket, a scarf wrapped around her head - it was a common custom in some system_ _. Her father was wearing the types of clothes that he always wore at home but those details were blurry too._

 _How strange that she could remember that her father always wore a certain type of clothing when he was at home but not what he actually wore or his face._

 _The clearest details_ _she could remember was the ones relating directly to her. For instance, the rug she was sat on. It was made of small, thick hairs. She remembered running her fingers through it. She remembered the toy she was playing with. It was made of wood, she could tell by the random notches and grooves that it was handmade, possibly by one of her parents. She could feel the love emanating from it. Thinking back on it, she realised that it was a toy for a force sensitive child. At least one of her parents had been force sensitive, maybe even Jedi..._

 _"I think my father was a teacher." She finally confessed. "I have this very dim memory of my mother."_

 _The part of her that would always belong to Jakku, the survival part of her, was screaming at her that this was private. My memories. Mine. Mine. But the rest of her trusted the General._

 _"My mother telling me that my father would begin to teach me when I was old enough but that I would be different from the other kids because my father was the teacher. That me and him had already began doing things that he hadn't taught anyone yet; that simply grew up with what they were being taught… That it would set me apart from everyone but that I should do my best to make friends. I think she was terrified that I would be alone and vulnerable. Sometimes now I think she was talking about the force... I don't know. But then my mother - she smiles and tells me to finish my sums... Maybe she was a teacher too." She realised that that last part was more to herself than to the General._

 _The General just gives her this sad smile and takes her hands on here._

 _There was more she wanted to say; could she access some kind of DNA scanner somehow? Even just to know their names. Maybe even find out her real name. Rey wasn't the name her parents gave her, just her father's nickname for her after all._

 _But she didn't. She could feel the heart breaking sadness and guilt coming from the older woman. Instead she kept silent and tried to comfort her. She probably wasn't doing a very good job. Growing up as a scavenger on Jakku didn't exactly prepare her for this sort of thing._

She pulled herself from her memories and turned to Luke's aunt.

"Who was his father?" She asked.

Beru's hands began to tremble and she looked at Rey so sharply that she did a double-take of the older woman.

"His name was Anakin Skywalker. He was a pilot – spice freighter navigator." She replied firmly, talking and looking as though she just wanted her to accept that answer as the only answer. Meaning it wasn't the truth… She could feel the lie in the air around her and Maz had told her that the lightsabre in her bag had been Luke's father's. Why was his family lying to him?

Rey felt herself slowly nodding. "But what about his sister? Why isn't she with you?"

"Luke doesn't have a sister. He was an only child… Who told you that?" Beru questioned in the same harsh tone.

"Nobody." Rey lied smoothly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She told her firmly. "Positive. I must have been mistaken."

"Did Luke tell you?"

"No. I just met him. Why would he tell me that if it's not true?"

Beru opened her mouth and quickly closed it. "No reason."

Then the woman frowned as though she had forgotten something and headed for the door, leaving Rey alone in the kitchen.

There was clearly more to it. And Luke's family were lying to him.

"Luke! Luke!" Beru yelled, heading out into the courtyard. "Luke, tell your uncle if he gets a translator, be sure it speaks Bachi."

* * *

She had searched the property for her staff - it wasn't here and she felt kriffing vulnerable without it (sure she had Luke Skywalker's lightsaber but it wasn't her staff). There was nothing but kriffing sand everywhere!

She was heading back to the homestead when she saw Luke and his uncle came back with droids in tow and decided to head back to the homestead. Rey knew she shouldn't have been surprised to see R2D2, having been informed by various members of the Resistance and by R2 himself that the droid had once belonged to Luke. However, she was surprised to see C3P0.

She figured that she would have to do something to repay them. She didn't have any money but maybe she could help them out in someway. She lightly kicked at the sand one last time, just enough to shift it slightly before heading inside the homestead.

"You must be Rey." A gruff voice said when she headed back into the kitchen to find Beru. It was an older man with a hard, lined face.

"Yes, sir. You must be Luke's uncle."

She held out a hand. Luke's uncle gave her a once over.

"Owen Lars." He replied simply. "Beru said you were a scavenger."

"Yes, sir. From Jakku." She nodded, her hand falling limply to her side.

"You know anything about droids?"

"I've worked on a few."

BB-8 and a few dead, abandoned droids that she'd got parts from.

"Luke's working on some droids. Would you mind helping him?" Beru asked.

"Sure thing. Where he is?"

"The tech dome. It's the room across from here." The older woman replied, pointing to one of the brown doors on the other side of the courtyard. "Through that door, up the stairs, through the second door and across the platform."

Rey nodded her thanks and headed out, round past the central water vaporators. The first two doors were easy to open however the door of the tech dome had rusted hinges and she had to give a hard tug before it slowly opened. The hinges groaned. Inside was a room of metal and electronics; storing old - well, probably somewhat contemporary, given where she was in history - vehicles. Various lights blinked. Was that good? Was that something important?

Her fingers were itching to get into the machinery, figure out what things were… Just like that Star Destroyer back on Jakku. She'd discovered it when she was thirteen standard years old. Although it had been thoroughly gutted by someone much larger and stronger than her, she'd explored the smaller places. She had gotten familiar with the more intimate pieces of the machinery and began to figure out that some of those were more valuable than what had been cleared out; not by much but some scraps had been enough to get Portions that had lasted a week and a half. Although didn't mean she had stopped scavenging instead she had continued scavenging, gathering the pieces and sorting through them.

Ones she couldn't use into a pile for trade when it had been a bad day in the scrap heaps and the ones she could use to make a speeder - she couldn't keep doing all of that walking, day in, day out, all day, every day. There was just something that you couldn't get used to.

Beru and Owen had been courteous enough to her, given the situation but she didn't want to upset them by going through their machinery because she couldn't control her curiosity.

The golden form of C3P0, the metal casing shining dully beneath the lights while R2D2 rested near some scraps of machines in the corner. Luke himself was sat on a chair, messing around the ship models, playing and making engine noises like a child.

The laugh slipped from her lips before she could stop it. Immediately Luke bolted up and placed the figure on the side, going red in the face.

"Hey." He blushed.

"Your aunt said you might need help working on the droids." She informed him, fiddling with the leather cuff on her wrist.

"S-sure." Luke replied, accidentally knocking some tools onto the floor. He hastily picked them up.

She looked over the model. It was intricately made and painted. Something about it reminded her of the handmade pilot doll back in the Walker. She'd also spent hours daydreaming of freedom, away from Jakku.

He caught her looking.

"You want to be a pilot?" She asked.

"Erm, yeah." He admitted. "Have you ever actually flown? A proper ship, not like a speeder."

There was a Skyhopper in the dug-out behind R2D2. It looked well-taken care of so she presumed it belonged to Luke.

"Just the one ship. Only flown off a planet one time but I've practised in this simulator on Jakku." She smiled, she didn't tell him that she had built the simulator.

"I want to apply to the Imperial Academy. Be a pilot."

Luke Skywalker - pilot for the Empire?! Her surprise must have shown on her face because he winced.

"Not because I support the Empire… I just - I want to fly. I want to get away from here." He admitted quietly. "My uncle keeps trying to get me to stay for one more harvest and then another harvest. I'm never going to get out of here."

Rey tried not to wince at the whiny tone in his voice.

"You will. If you're determined enough, you'll get out… So… What do you want me to do?" Rey asked, feeling awkward.

"Could you look over C3P0? See if there is anything that needs fixing? I'll look at him." Luke gestured to the astrodroid in the corner.

She looked over the wrenches on the bench… No, Harris wrench was too big. Gauss wrench was for bolts. Hydrospanner, Arc wrench, Torque wrench… They might be of use. Tollo wrench was for droid construction, not repair. Her hand hovered over a prybar… No, the screws looked to be in good working condition. She didn't need that yet. She grabbed a Niac screwdriver and pulled up a chair.

"Oh, hello, miss." The droid greeted her as she approached. "I am C3P0, human-cyborg relations. Do you live here?"

"No, I'm just helping out. Do you mind if I look through your machinery, make sure it all works?"

"Oh, yes please, Miss. I'm afraid my gears will be full of sand." The droid shuffled around so the access panel was facing her. "Master Luke said that I would be able to have an oil bath."

"I'll see what I can do about that." She murmured. "My name's Rey."

"Oh, thank the maker." C3P0 exclaimed as she used the screwdriver to unscrew the Niac screw and placed it on the side. She looked over the insides.

They looked fine, despite the obvious age of them - they were clearly over two decades old but someone had taken care of them. All of the wires were fine, still connected; all synced up and running fine. Some of the gears, however, may need to be replaced in a few years time but nothing too major or too difficult. She found the small configuration panel and brought up the basic information. Most of the information was lacking; okay, so an old handmade droid. They were more common than people thought.

She scrolled through the information. One of the few things that was there was the protocol programme that it used. It was very old; old enough that it must have been some kind of free open source programme when it had been put together. Probably a programme that had been common when protocol droids had really taken off, fifty years before the Empire. Last memory wipe had been nineteen years ago.

The main processor looked a bit faulty and given the way it had been fixed in and the age of, it had clearly been bought faulty… Or free. Maybe out of a scrap yard. Rey decided, giving it a second look over. Seemed okay though and all in working order, especially for his age. Professionally made but with the crudest machinery and tools. She screwed the panel back up and placed the tools on the side. She glanced around; her eyes landing on a platform and control.

"That platform for getting him into the oil bath?" She questioned, glancing up at Luke. He was going back and forth, fetching various tools from around the room. He nodded.

She herded him onto the platform and pressed a few of the buttons. The platform raised C3P0 up slowly and down into the oil barrel.

"This oil bath is going to feel so good." He was practically squealing in delight.

Luke was bent down in front of R2D2, doing something with a screwdriver and one of the smaller, less violent prybars. Maybe tightening up a few bolts.

"You've got something jammed in here real good." He said to the droid. "Were you on a cruiser-"

There was a snap as something broke off and Luke went flying. Rey rushed over and bent down, an eerie sense of deja vu coming over her. But this was Luke Skywalker. Not Finn… Oh, Force she hoped he was doing okay.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." He mumbled.

She held out a hand and helped to heave him to his feet. The two of them looked over to R2D2. Rey hoped the damage was fixable. Instead there was an old blue hologram, flickering in and out, in and out. A dark-haired, dark-eyed young woman, dressed in white.

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope." The young girl spoke before the hologram glitched. "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

Over and over again.

Rey and Luke glanced at each other. Did he know who she was? Something about the figure seemed familiar. She just couldn't place it.

"What's this?" Luke questioned the droid.

R2D2 looked around and beeped a response. What is what?

"You know Force well what." Rey replied before she could stop herself.

"What is what?!" C3P0 snapped at the same time. "He asked you a question… What is that?" The droid pointed at the hologram.

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

R2D2 whistled loudly in mock surprise before beeping a few protests.

"You know it's there." Rey groaned to herself.

"He says it's nothing, sir. Merely a malfunction. Old data. Pay it no mind." The golden droid tried to placate the two of them.

Old data my -

"Who is she?" Luke questioned. "She's beautiful. Do you know who she is?"

"No." She said. But she did know her face, she just couldn't place it. Force, it was so frustrating.

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

"I think she was a passenger on our last voyage. A person of some importance, sir - I believe. Our captain was attached to-"

"Is there more to this recording?" Luke interrupted, reaching out for R2D2. The droid let out a series of frantic beeps and whistles.

"Definitely more to that recording." She said.

"Yeah." He agreed.

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

"Behave yourself, R2. You're going to get us in trouble. It's all right, you can trust him. He's our new master." C3P0 reprimanded the other droid.

R2 let out a fast, long series of beeps that Rey's brain was struggling to keep up and translate. She caught a few words such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, classified and private.

"He says he's the property of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a resident of these parts. Quite frankly, sir, I don't know what he's talking about. Our last master was Captain Antilles, but with what we've been through, this little R2 unit has become a bit eccentric." C3P0 informed them.

'What game are you playing?' She thought, glowering at the blue and white droid. It then hit her how much she missed BB8. She missed his enthusiastic, excited beeps and hopefulness.

"Do you know who he's talking about?" She asked Luke, who half-staring dreamily at the hologram. He tore his eyes from it to look at her.

"No." He replied. "Never heard of him but… There is Ben Kenobi. Old man who lives out beyond the dune sea, bit like an old hermit. He swings by every other month when Uncle Owen isn't around… They don't get along." The last bit was quiet. She probably wasn't meant to hear that.

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

"Do you think they could be related?" She pushed, desperate to find out more. She knew this girl. Some part of her knew who this girl was and it was frustrating.

"I wonder who she is. It sounds like she's in trouble. We'd better play the whole thing." Luke's blue eyes were gazing at the glitching hologram. R2D2 beeped.

Restraining bolt?

"He says the restraining bolt has short circuited his recording system. He suggests that if you remove the bolt, he might be able to play back the entire recording."The golden droid translated.

You sneaky little -

"H'm? Oh, yeah, well, I guess you're too small to run away on me if I take this off-"

"Wait." Rey interrupted him. "Restraining bolts don't usually mess with recording systems - a-at least in my experience."

"But he's not going to run anywhere. He doesn't know the area so he won't be able to get very far." Luke countered.

'You aren't thinking with your head.' Rey realised with a start. 'You've got a kriffing crush on her!'

As she opened her mouth to tell him that, he had already picked up one of the prybars and popped off the restraining bolt.

"There you go." He said to the little droid. The hologram faded out.

'You kriffing idiot. Sithspawn! Luke Skywalker is a kriffing idiot! Shavit!' Rey shook her head.

"Where'd she go? Play back the entire message."

R2D2 beeped a far too innocent sounding reply to Rey. Then she realised what the droid had said.

"What kriffing message?! The one you were just playing, you kriffing nerf herder." She glared at the droid.

"What message? The one you're carrying inside your rusty innards!" C3P0 said at the exact same time as her outburst.

"Luke? Rey? Come to dinner!" Beru's voice called.

Luke stood up and shook his head. "We'll be right there, Aunt Beru!" He called before turning back to her as he tossed the restraining bolt onto the nearby workbench. "What are we going to do? She sounded like she was in danger, didn't she?"

"Yeah. Don't worry. We'll figure it out." She put her hand on his shoulder and tried to comfort him.

Luke glanced at the droid. "We'll be right back. See what you can do with him." He ordered C3P0.

As Luke headed out of the room, Rey paused. Her eyes resting on the restraining bolt and flickered to little droid in contemplation.

"Just you reconsider playing that message for him." C3P0 told him.

Maybe she should put that restraining bolt back on. R2D2 screeched and beeped in fear when his receptor caught her looking between the bolt and the droid himself.

But then again, maybe she shouldn't mess with history. What if this led to something important?

R2D2 beeped again.

"No, I don't think they like you at all."

* * *

The table was covered with steaming bowls of food that made her mouth drool. Beru was placing a bowl of something red on the table as she entered.

Beru smiled when she saw her.

"I'm sorry but this is the best we could do under the circumstances." She told her apologetically, gesturing to a chair. It was an old, rickety stool with a clearly wonky leg. Compared to the fact that less than a week ago she was eating sat on a sand dune, using her fingers, this was amazing.

"I don't mind. Thank you." She smiled.

Her plate was covered in all sorts of bits and pieces of food that she'd never even seen and a small glass of water. She sat down and pulled the stool closer to the table as Luke poured himself a glass of blue milk.

"Thank you." She repeated, feeling awkwardly grateful.

"You know, I think that R2 unit we bought might have been stolen." Luke informed his aunt and uncle.

His uncle looked sharply at Luke, glancing at her quickly.

"What makes you think that?" The man replied carefully.

Aside from the fact that you bought him Jawa's? It was on the tip of her tongue. But she hadn't survived on Jakku without learning when to hold her tongue. Instead she ate some of the strange green leaves that was on her plate. This had nothing to do with her. If she said too much, would she disrupt history?

"Well, I stumbled across a recording while we were working on the droids. He says he belongs to someone called Obi-Wan Kenobi." Luke explained.

The reaction from Owen was immediate. He gave a start, his lips pinched around the edges and his eyes narrowed but the man stayed silent. As though if he said something, he wouldn't be able to stop himself.

Should she kick Luke under the table or…. What?

"I thought he might have meant old Ben. Do you know what's he's talking about? He could be related to-" Luke rambled on until he cut himself off abruptly with a yelp as Rey hit him with a well-aimed kick to his calf.

He glowered at her and Rey suddenly felt like she had kicked BB-8 from that look. She caught Beru glancing them from the corner of her eye.

She could see Owen's face swelling in anger.

"That old man's just a crazy old wizard. Tomorrow I want you to take that R2 unit into Anchorhead and have its memory flushed. That'll be the end of it. It belongs to us now." Owen snapped at him.

"But what if this Obi-Wan comes looking for him?"

Luke, will you kriffing shut up?

"He won't." The older man told him gruffly. " I don't think he exists any more. He died about the same time as your father."

"He knew my father?"

Rey pressed her lips together in order to keep herself from blurting out anything and everything. You're clearly lying to him. She wanted to scream.

Owen had clearly realised this had been the wrong thing to say because he glanced at his wife and shifted in his seat.

"I told you to forget it." He practically ordered. "Your only concern is to prepare the new droids for tomorrow. In the morning I want them on the south ridge working out those condensers."

Luke nodded, shuffling food around his plate. He had barely eaten. In fact, neither had she, now that she thought about it.

As if woken with that realisation, her stomach growled. She pushed some of the small pieces of meat onto her fork (also thank you Jessica for being patient and teaching her how to use cutlery back on the Resistance base). She barely stopped herself from moaning. It tasted so nice.

"I think those new droids are going to work out fine. In fact, I, uh, was also thinking about our agreement about my staying on another season." He was saying.

Rey glanced at him. If what he had said in the tech dome was anything to go by, this wasn't going to end well.

"And if these new droids do work out, I want to transmit my application to the Academy this year."

Owen was scowling at his nephew. Uh-oh.

"You mean the next semester before harvest?" He questioned, glancing at Rey… Was he blaming her?

Her hand wandered back to the lightsabre in her bag, brushing along the cool metal. No vision, which she was thankful for, but she did have stop herself from handing it over to Luke there and then… And telling him everything.

Yes, that would go over well.

"Sure, there're more than enough droids."

"Harvest is when I need you the most. Only one more season. This year we'll make enough on the harvest so I'll be able to hire some hands. And then you can go to the Academy next year."

It was meant to be reassuring. Rey was sure of that but it didn't should very reassuring. Maybe it was because she didn't know him.

Luke was toying with his food still rather than eating. He wasn't looking at any of them instead he stared at his plate. Was he angry or annoyed? Ashamed maybe?

"You must understand I need you here, Luke."

"But it's a whole 'nother year." The protest seemed to burst from his lips as he whipped his head up to face his uncle.

"Look, it's only one more season."

Rey glanced at Beru. The woman was half looking at her food, occasionally glancing between her husband and her nephew.

Luke stood up.

"Yeah, that's what you said last year when Biggs and Tank left." He said bitterly.

"Where are you going?" The elder woman finally spoke up.

"It looks like I'm going nowhere. I have to finish cleaning those droids."

Owen turned back to his food.

Should she follow him? Stop him from doing something stupid? What was supposed to happen?

"Owen, he can't stay here forever. Most of his friends have gone. It means so much to him."

"I'll make it up to him next year. I promise."

Rey suddenly wished she was anyway but the dining room. At any point in time. Or maybe the ground would swallow her up. Instead she glanced at her food again. She'd barely touched any of it despite how different and nice it was, she just couldn't bring herself to eat it.

* * *

She found Luke outside, staring at the twin suns of Tatooine as they were slowly disappearing behind a distant dune range.

"Hey." She said as she neared him.

"I'm sorry about that." Luke told her, still looking at the suns.

"Don't look directly at them." She jokingly chided him. "You'll go blind."

"Funny." One side of his mouth quirked up in a half-smile. "So now that you've got your bearings, what are you going to do? You can finish off whatever shady dealings you came to Tatooine to do."

"What makes you think I'm doing shady dealings?"

"You came to Tatooine." He reasoned. "If there's a bright center to the universe, Tatooine is the farthest planet from it."

"I don't even know why I came to Tatooine." She admitted. "I have no idea what I'm going to do now… I've been off of Jakku for less than a week and I'm already lost."

"Can you tell me when you plan to do something? I'll come with you."

"Really?" She grinned. "And how do you plan to do that?"

"Maybe we could hijack a ship."

"Yeah, I can't wait to do that again." She muttered sarcastically.

"You've hijacked a ship before?" He whirled around to look at her, his eyes were wide.

"It's how I got off of Jakku in the first place."

He chuckled. "Maybe we should. I mean, you heard my uncle. We hijack a ship and go rescue that girl. She sounded like she was in trouble, right?"

"Yeah… Yeah, she did."

* * *

Beru had given her a towel and led her to their shower. Their actual kriffing shower! Even now, as she stepped out of it and turned off the water, she still couldn't believe it. Back on Jakku, she'd had to walk to the watering hole ten miles south of Nima Outpost once a week, every week in order to fill up her two massive containers of water for the week before she had her weekly bath. It was the best of a bad situation that she'd thought nothing of until she'd met Finn and landed on the Resistance base where people had access to showers every day, all week. That had been mind-blowing.

Honestly, she was surprised Jessica had never said anything. She'd probably stunk of sweat, given that she had been due to take that weekly walk the day after Finn turned up but she'd obviously missed it.

Above the sink was a small, dingy and cracked mirror. Rey wiped away the condensation and stared at her reflection. Her hazel eyes still remained the same, her lips were still the same shape, her hair was still the same colour. Her face was exactly the same, aside from a few extra freckles. She looked exactly the same as she had last week but yet… everything was so very different… She felt so out of place.

She quickly dried and changed into an old, ratty dress that Beru had given her for the night after she confessed that she had no clothes besides what she wore on her back, while the older woman washed her clothes.

There was a small 'bed' made up of a paper-thin sheet and pillow on the sofa that Luke and Beru had put together for her. She had to do something to thank them. They could have just turned her away afterall.

A few hours later, she laid awake, unable to sleep. Sweat was pooling in the small of her back, dripping down her neck. Tatooine nights were so much hotter than the fiercely cold Jakku nights. But that wasn't the main thing that was keeping her awake.

She couldn't stop thinking. She had found Luke Skywalker! He was a younger version but she had found him! … When would everything begin though? How old was Luke when he met Leia and Han? Would she be stuck here until then?

Luke must have found out about his father somehow. Must have gotten his lightsabre somehow… But how?

She couldn't help the small grain of jealously in the back of her mind. At least Luke knew his parents' fates. At least he knew his father's force-damned name. She knew nothing. They could be alive and waiting her for all she knew. They could be alive and not care about her. They could be dead.

… And if they were dead, would she ever know why?

If they weren't… Why did they leave her?

 _No, come back._

 _No, come back._

Over and over, her own voice echoed in her head. Round and round like a mantra.

To Rey, the cruelest words ever would always be 'it might have been'. They held everything and nothing at the same time. And so, so much pain.

Her parents must have been someone because Unkar Plutt had kept her alive when he didn't have to. The one time she'd gotten sick as a child, he'd been terrified. Clearly the thought of her parents terrified him to the point where he was worried that they could either haunt him or would come back kill him.

Her eyes started to droop and felt heavier and heavier.

Luke didn't look like much. He was just a kid. A naive, scrawny kid who would have gotten eaten alive on Jakku. How could he be the famed Luke Skywalker? How could he have beaten the infamous Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine? How could he have overthrown the fearsome Empire?

That kid with his bright eyes and wide smile caused deep, cutting pain in Han's eyes when he had talked about Luke. Han had clearly been one of the people who had known him best. He must have spent a good decade wondering what had driven Luke to leave. If he could have stopped him. If there was anything he could have done differently.

If Han could have gotten rid of the agony in his wife's eyes when she thought of her brother. The scars that Rey had felt and seen within General Organa when she spoke about Luke… It had hurt her, and that had only been the second-hand pain. The General must have spent years wondering what she had done wrong in order to lose her son and her brother. She must have spent years like Han, wondering if she could have changed everything, she could have stopped everything. That there should have been something that she could have done.

But once again, it was simple a case of what might have been. That still the most painful thing about it all.

When the General had spoken about her brother, she never talked about their parents. Not really. The only thing she had ever said was that neither she nor Luke ever knew who their mother was. The General wanted nothing to do with their past for whatever reason that she didn't want to say and Luke had been terrified by what he would find. The mysterious Skywalker parents were the mystery surrounding Luke, even before he had vanished it seemed.

Then someone was shaking her. Her eyes cracked open an inch. It was darker than it had been. She must have fallen asleep.

Hovering above her, with wide anxious eyes was Luke Skywalker. He looked terrified and so, so tired.

"You have to help me." He whisper-yelled frantically.

"Wha-wt?" Rey mumbled tiredly, barely suppressing a yawn. "W-what's wrong?"

"That R2D2 unit is gone."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry this took so long! So Rogue One - fingers crossed that Jyn survives! (I will go down with the Jyn-Luke ship and the Rey is their daughter theory). OMG! Guardians of the Galaxy 2 trailer. OMG! The Last of Us 2!**

 **Right… Sorry...**

 **And 'eigengrau' is a word for the dark grey that people see in the absence of light. I had no idea what to call Rey's pieces of material that goes over her shoulders, I've called it a shawl for the time being but if anyone knows what it's called, let me know in a PM or a review and I'll change it. And I have no idea if I have the Lars homestead layout right at all, I've been staring at the cutaway on the wiki and it's a bit too small to see. Obviously some of the dialogue comes from** _ **A New Hope**_ **, which I don't own.**

 **Another note - I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I'm cringing a bit - I haven't wrote anything aside from academic writing for a while which could explain why I'm struggling. Also I'm sorry that this is not as long as I wanted it to be but I wanted it out before I go to see Rogue One later tonight (in fact I'm leaving in less than 40 minutes for a showing!). Enjoy.**

 **On with the story!**

* * *

It took a moment for what Luke said to sink in.

"Wait, what?" Rey said hoarsely, rubbing her eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." He replied quickly. "I was going to tell you last night when we were outside but it got too late and -"

"So you decided to wake me up at - what time is it?"

"5am standard time?" He informed her.

"Instead of, oh I don't know, telling me last night so we could get up early to search for him?"

"I didn't think of that."

Sitting up, Rey groaned and tilted her head back. _Smack._ Ouch! She rubbed the tender spot on her head. So much for not banging her head against the walls of the homestead.

"I told you not to take that bolt off of him." She mumbled. "Alright, alright. I'll help you but you'll owe me. Just give me a few minutes to get changed into … something."

He nodded quickly, his face splitting into a wide but worried grin.

"Here, I've got some clothes that you can borrow. They should fit." Luke told her.

She rocked her head from side to side, stretching the muscles. The living area looked even more dead, empty and depressing in the eigengrau room. Black on grey from the shutdown compound and it's lack of light. The white walls washed a medium grey and the sofa she was sat on black. Luke's face was washed in grey, his blonde hair a strange mix of grey, his blue-blue-blue eyes were darkened to a different shade of grey. It was darker than her Walker in here, which wasn't so surprising. She had no way of boarding up the AT-AT at night back on Jakku so even with the night, it was never this dark (plus sand always blew inside, even when she closed the hatch).

But even despite all that, she felt a strange sense of peace. Even as a minor ache was beginning to form at her temples ( _If he'd have told her earlier!_ ), she was breathing easy. The strange sense allowed her to focus, allowed her to remain calm. Like some kind of whispering voice was telling her everything will be alright. Everything will be as it should be. Unless she was going crazy or having some kind of breakdown… To be honest, that would explain this entire situation. However it could be due to the fact in the past… Force, less than five standard days, she had left Jakku, been kidnapped _and escaped_ , discovered that she had force powers and defeated Kylo Ren in a one on one fight. It was all a bit much for her brain to handle so maybe she had had some kind of breakdown… Or maybe just so much had happened now that nothing would ever phase her again. Neither would be that surprising.

"My room's this way." Luke informed her, standing up, as she stretched out her legs and circled her feet. They cracked loudly, pain briefly shooting up her legs.

Rey forced herself to her feet. The cold floor raised goosebumps across her legs. It felt strange to have something other than her boots underneath her feet but it also felt strange to wear something other than what she normally wore. The thin, scratchy material of the raggy dress felt weird and different on her skin.

She paused at the door, shoving her boots onto her feet and grabbed her bag.

Should she leave something here for Beru and Owen? She couldn't leave a note - her education on Jakku had been non-existent at most and Jessica had just started trying teach her how to write and spell - but surely she could leave money (not that she had any) or maybe something for them to trade so they could get money? It felt so wrong.

She should leave them something. They allowed her to sleep there, gave her _food_ (and half of which she didn't even eat! How could she be so ungrateful?!) and let her use their _shower_. On Tattooine!

Oh, she didn't know! She wished someone from the Resistance was here to help her!

* * *

 _It was her first morning at the Resistance base and she'd been given a small room with a small bed, thin sheets and a quilt. Her own room; just until they sort everything out, the admin board told her when the General had sent her to their office (after the medical team had kicked her out... They'd probably gotten sick of her hovering over Finn for the night and they had to operate on his back). Which, to be fair, had been a chaotic mess as they were scrambling to try to find possible planets for a new base. Just in case, one of the admin staff had said to her, catching her worried expression._

 _She'd laid in bed for a while, biting her lip and feeling the sheets in wonder. They weren't a small cramped space in the Walker, these were real sheets. It couldn't last long. She couldn't afford to pay for this. It felt strange not to be getting ready for a long day scavenging and being able to just lay there._

 _Knock! Knock! Someone was loudly rapping on the door._

" _Hey, Rey." It was a male voice. "It's me. Poe. You want to go get breakfast with me?"_

 _Breakfast? What was breakfast?_

 _She shoved the sheet and quilt aside as she forced herself out of the bedsheets as she heard a muffled series of beeps._

 _Her fuzzy sleepy brain took a few moments to translate it into basic. 'Miss Rey! It's me! Are you in there? I miss you!'_

 _Poe had BB-8 with him._

 _She almost tripped over her boots she had placed at the foot of the bed. On the ground, dumped unceremoniously into a pile next to them, was her bindings for her arms, her shawl and the pieces of string for her hair. Her quarterstaff leaned against the wall. She hastily shoved the boots onto her feet as she pressed the door button._

" _Morning." She greeted him as the door slid open to show Poe, lacking his jacket, with BB-8 at his feet. He beamed brightly._

 _Her insides squirmed. What would he think of her if he knew that she couldn't afford for this room? If he knew she had no money? He probably wouldn't be smiling this brightly. He could probably tell already given that she had slept in her dirty top and bottoms._

 _BB-8 loudly beeped a greeting. "Morning Miss Rey!"_

 _If he could smile, she imagined he would be as well._

" _Morning." She smiled to the little droid, leaning over to grab the hair ties. "So what were you talking about? What this Break Fast? Is it a shift that we have?"_

 _Poe's face scrunched up in confusion, a clear concerned 'v' between his eyebrows. BB-8 beeped._

' _What do you mean, Miss Rey?'_

 _She quickly tied her hair up into her usual hairstyle. "Is Break Fast a cleaning shift or a patrol around the perimeter?"_

" _No… No… It's a meal."_

" _A meal?" She tilted her head._

" _Yeah. A meal you have in the morning? To start your day?"_

" _Y-you have more than one meal a day?" Her own eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. BB-8 gave another few of beeps and bloops as his scope swiveled around from her up to Poe, zooming in slightly._

' _Master Poe, I don't understand. Why is Miss Rey sad?'_

 _His scope tilted down, as though in sadness._

" _It's okay, BB... Can we come in, please? I'll explain." He asked._

 _She nodded, biting her lip. BB-8 rolled in and Poe stepped into the room behind him. The door slid shut. BB-8 bumped into her legs, his scope focusing on her._

" _I'm okay, BB-8." She gave the droid a small smile._

" _Did you not breakfast on Jakku?"_

" _Unkar Plutt might of but I wouldn't know about. We only had one meal a day that we have to trade whatever we scavenged that day or a few days ago, if we lucky to find enough scrap that could be worth more than one Ration."_

" _Ration?" He questioned._

" _Yeah, Ration. Do you not have them?"_

" _No, we have food. I've never heard of Rations… Not in the way you're talking about them at least."_

" _Rations were dehydrated polystarch and veg-meat. You had to cook the veg-meat and it took me a while to learn how to do it but it was easy enough to rehydrate the polystarch."_

" _And that's all you had? One a day? Everyday?"_

 _His look of disbelief made it clear that he didn't believe her._

" _Yes." She told him seriously, staring at him. "What do you pay for your food here?"_

 _She stared at her boots, knowing she could never avoid the food, no matter the rate._

" _Pay? You don't need to pay for food. It's fine." He replied gently._

 _No, surely that couldn't be right. He was making fun of her!_

" _You're lying." She accused me. "You don't need to lie to me. I can handle it, I can't afford the room or the food but I can work for it. So you don't need to lie to me."_

" _I'm not lying to you."_

" _Yes you are. Or at the very least, you're making fun of me. I know I don't have anything of value but I can earn my keep. I'm used to doing that."_

" _Rey, you don't need to pay for anything here, okay? It's all fine, it's all free."_

" _Stop making fun of me Poe." She demanded._

" _I'm not making fun of you." He insisted kindly._

" _You have to be. There is no way food and a room could be free. Ever."_

" _Rey, you're welcome here, okay? All of the other pilots love you. Especially Jess. We're all in the same boat here, okay? Everything is free, no payment because we're all in the same position."_

 _He was being honest. She could feel it._

 _Suddenly the knot of stress in her chest unknotted and Rey felt her eyes burning. Her throat felt swollen. Tears slipped out of her eyes._

" _Really?" She whispered, her voice breaking._

" _Yes." He nodded and she wrapped her arms around him in a hug for a moment._

' _Miss Rey, your eyes are leaking? Are you okay?' BB-8 beeped._

" _Yeah, BB, I'm fine." She smiled._

* * *

She internally sighed… She can talk to Owen and Beru when they got, she supposed. Work something out. There was no feeling of terror or foreboding, nagging in the back of her head like there was in Starkiller Base. But it wasn't as calm as it was when she woke up, it felt like

A sense of quiet unease, like a small weight on her tongue rather than a feeling in the back of her head. Not even full blown apprehension... Admittedly she wasn't that great at reading the Force. She could understand it to a limited extent; maybe with training she'd get better. Rey stepped out into the crater-courtyard and was hit with a blast of hot air, sweat gathering at her temples.

There was no sky visible, just the dark sheets of metal that the apparent lock-down barrier consisted of. Everything was dark eigengrau. The sand and walls were dark grey, the evaporator in the middle, a paler grey.

"Come on, we just need to turn the lock-down off and start up the generator." Luke informed her as he walked to a different door, just off to the side of the tech dome. She followed, catching the door before it closed.

Once again, the room was dark. She reached out blindly for a lightswitch. Nope. No. Not there either. Finally her palm came into contact with a small switch. She flicked it. Nothing. She flicked it again.

"Erm - Luke, your lights aren't working."

"No generator. These lights don't have a separate power source." His reply was slightly distant, coming from further back in the dark. "There's two generators next to you. Would you mind switching them on, please?"

"Okay… Hey, if your lights don't have a separate power source, how would you repair them in a blackout?"

"With great difficulty." He sounded like he was smiling, a bit of a laugh in his voice. "I've managed before."

Probably with the Force, she considered as her eyes adjusted to this room's darkness. The darker shapes were the generators; they seemed old. Pre-Empire at the very least. She reached out and came into contact with cold metal. Then she knew - at least the model of it. QBD0100.052050I. A quite an old model, even by Empire standards. She heard Luke clicking a few buttons and messing around with a hydrospanner. She reached around to where the power button was. A sudden distant whirring sound grew louder and louder until it reached what was apparently its highest pitch and then the lights flickered for a moment before staying on. _OUCH!_ The light and the white walls were painfully blinding at the moment. Connected to the generator was a large cable with a small panel. Luke came wandering over, pressing a few buttons on the panel. A quiet rumble came from above her.

"It's the lockdown. Just one of my chores" He explained

lamely as she reached for the power button on the generator opposite. This one was an older, slightly corroded QBD00631.120584H. She switched it on. It took a few seconds for the lights to blink on and the grey device shook ever so slightly… Maybe she could leave some tips for Owen about the generator. Slight shaking wasn't so bad but he really shouldn't let it get much worse.

"Thanks." He smiled shyly at her as he headed out of the room and held the door open for her. She could see sunlight peeking over the lip of the crater.

"No problem. However, you shouldn't have removed that restraining bolt." She chastised him, following him.

"I didn't know that he would run off. How was I supposed to know?"

"He was playing you." She replied, smiling slightly.

The door he was leading her to was opposite the generator room, underneath a piece of sticking out brown rock wall, decorated with white material and resting on it was a bright green plant. She never realised the few bright green plants dotted throughout the courtyard.

 _I never knew there was this much green in the whole galaxy._

Her own words echoed back at her in her head. The way Han had looked at her… Had he been thinking of Luke? Had she reminded him of this boy in front of her?

She had no idea. Now she could never ask him.

"You never said anything."

Rey paused. What could she say to that? _Well, I didn't want to disrupt the timeline? She could say that but he probably wouldn't believe her._ Instead of replying straight away, she must have slipped into the Force for a moment because Luke's presence suddenly became as bright as the twin suns of Tattooine. She caught bits and pieces of emotions - bit of worry, some nervousness but nothing bad. Nothing was screaming at her from the back of her head like in Starkiller Base. However he didn't seem particularly at peace. The feelings and presence gave off something like a person rocking back and forth on the balls of their feet, ready to run. Of course, given the current situation that was to be expected.

"I did tell you. I told you that Restraining bolts don't usually mess with recording systems and what was your reply? 'He's too small to run away'." She lowered her voice to a gruff and glancing at him. He did look really, really young. The blonde hair didn't help; it gave him a halo. The dimple in his chin made him look young… It still felt strange seeing him in real life and thinking that this was Luke Skywalker. Sleeping hadn't help it sink it. This was a young living legend before he was a legend… Was she taller than him?! No, they were the same height. It was a strange thought. Legends like Luke Skywalker always seemed larger than life.

"I don't sound like that." He protested with a slight whine in his voice as he entered a small white hallway. It was narrow and short, only two white doors on either side. He opened the one on the left and held the door for her.

The room was small and rectangular - probably about the same size as her Walker but definitely less cramped. He didn't have everything shoved in his room, she supposed. The walls and floor were identical to the rest of the homestead. That was to say white. A single bed in the corner, similar to the one she had slept in at the Resistance base. A few shelves holding small but intricately detailed ship models. There was a pang in her chest as she looked at them, it made her think of her little pilot doll that she had left on Jakku. A few clothes on the floor, one or two holos and a few holobooks. Probably some kind of educational books, she assumed. Two small closed doors off to the side one further back on the right and one closer to the entrance on the left, that Luke was heading towards. He opened it and revealed a bunch of off-white clothes. Trousers, robes - all very similar to what he was currently wearing. Tattooine farmer wear.

"I think my clothes should fit. Just for now." He told her.

"It's fine. I don't mind." She smiled.

She didn't. She was just simply grateful that he would lend her clothes. They didn't have much so the fact that he was willing to let her borrow clothes meant a lot.

He passed her a pair of trousers and one of the tops with a belt, still an off-white colour.

"Refresher's there." He said, gesturing to the right doorway.

"Thanks." She said, walking over there before she paused and turned to him. "Hey, Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I just realised. I never asked you how old you are."

"Oh… I'm nineteen."

Nineteen?! She bit back a reply and tried to smile but it felt more like a grimace.

"Really? Same age as me."

'The same kriffing age… What a world of difference a loving family makes.' She thought as she closed the bathroom door.

The room was tiny. He had a small mirror as well. It wasn't as cracked as the one in the other bathroom. This room didn't have a water shower, it had a sonic shower, a small sink and a cube-like toilet.

She had looked at herself in the mirror last night but it felt like everything had sunk it a bit more. She didn't look older but she did feel older. It was a strange feeling - like she'd aged twenty standard years in two days.

It was probably Starkiller Base, finding the Skywalker lightsabre and her force powers and worrying about Finn. Oh, Force Finn! How could she forget about Finn? Even for a moment! Was he okay? Was he awake yet? Would he wake up? Force, what Poe? How was he doing? Was he okay? What about the General? What if the First Order had found them?

Wait, she was in the past. Nothing has happened yet. It's all fine.

 _You don't need to worry, Rey_. The only thing she had to worry about right now was not screwing up the timeline.

She sighed, taking off her boots (of course there was sand in there. It gets everywhere!) and stripped off the raggy night dress… Kriff, underwear. She only had the underwear she was currently wearing… Her binding and one pair of knickers that had cost her a couple of piston rings, two good valves and a sump. Even if she hadn't _gone back_ in time, she probably should have packed more in case Luke Skywalker hadn't wanted to leave that planet right away. Jessica said she would ask the General about getting her proper underwear rather the binding she'd been wearing on… It made Rey wonder what Jessica had meant by 'proper underwear'.

Right now, her binding was gathered at her waist rather than on her chest, because sleeping with it on was painful. She undid the knot, unwound the off-white material from her waist and rewound over her chest before it into a secure knot. She pulled Luke's trousers on. They were a bit too long, she gave the material of both legs a yank upwards and shoved her boots back on. The top she shrugged on, again a bit too big for her skinny frame, tied it on the inside before she fastened the belt around her. The clothes were a similar material to the ones she'd worn for years on Jakku but she felt awkward and gawky. She put her bag on as sweat slid down her neck.

* * *

The sand dunes and hills speeding past her was such a familiar sight that for a moment, Rey thought she had imagined the entire thing with situation with Han Solo, Starkiller Base and the Resistance, then it came back with a jolt that she crammed in the back of a landspeeder, pressed against the cold metal of this speeder rather than her own custom built speeder. Sand looked the same on all planets.

"So what is this place?" She questioned. It looked similar to the Badlands on Jakku.

"It's called the Jundland Wastes." He replied, his blonde hair swaying wildly in the wind.

Then she saw something peeking out of the sand, something long, thin and dark with a familiar mechanical on the end.

"Wait!" She cried.

"What?" Luke asked hurriedly as Rey took that moment to dive from the speeder. Okay, it might have been a tad overdramatic. She landed on the hot sand, her boots didn't sink into it and the sand took her breath away for a moment as she let out a slight gasp. Hard sand then. Brilliant.

She grasped the dark top of whatever it was. It felt familiar. _Kriff!_ It was hot. Familiar pieces of scrap mechanics, familiar grooves and scars. Her quarterstaff. Her hand was still stinging slightly from where she had touched the boiling hot metal. She moved her hand down to makeshift hand pads - where she had wrapped some pale cloth around it.

She couldn't stop beaming as she turned around.

"It's a staff?"

"It's my staff." She corrected him, clambering into the back of the speeder. "I was searching for this yesterday."

She had to stop herself from hugging it. 3PO started up the speeder again.

"I thought you liked flying?" Rey asked him.

"I'm keeping an eye on the scanner." He replied. "This is driving, this isn't flying. When we get back, we'll can go to Beggar's Canyon. That's real flying."

For a moment, she considering telling him about her feat in the Millennium Falcon with the TIE Fighters...

"Look, there's a droid on the scanner. Dead ahead. Might be our little R2 unit. Hit the accelerator." Luke's voice interrupted her thoughts. 3PO sped up the speeder. The blur of the sand going by reminded her of her own speeder, the one time she had looked at the ground after building it (it was also the first and last time she had ever done that). In the back of her head came a warning, a bit of pressure from the upper left side. Rey swung her head in that direction, staring at the rock formations. She didn't see anything but rocks and more rocks, all the same colour of the sand around them. As the speeder went around the corner, a silver astromech came into view, slowly waddling away further out.

Luke got out of the speeder. Rey got out and helped 3PO as Luke stepped into front of the droid.

"Hey, whoa. Where you do think you're going?" He demanded. R2 let out a series of beeps.

"Why are you so interested in finding Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

He beeped a small answer.

"Master Luke is your rightful owner now. We'll have no more of this Obi-Wan Kenobi gibberish." The golden droid replied before she could.

R2 beeped indignantly at 3PO.

"Well, we found him." Rey looked at Luke. "How do you plan on getting him back to yours?"

"And don't talk to me about your mission either. You're fortunate that he doesn't blast you into a million pieces right here." 3PO warned the astromech.

"I don't know." Luke admitted. "We can shoved him into the speeder."

"Will it fly with that much weight though?"

"We could adjust it, I suppose." He answered, his hair being blown in all direction. He glanced at 3PO before staring back at R2. He held up a hand to 3PO.

"Can't we just gag him?" The question slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. 3PO stared at her. Sorry. Sorry.

"Well, I never..." 3PO grumbled to himself as R2 beeped. Rey bent down to his eye level. Well, eye to photoreceptor.

"What's wrong?"

He let out a series of beeps again, sounding and seeming more worried than before as he rocked from tread to tread.

"Creatures? What creatures?" She asked the astromech.

"What's wrong with him now?" Luke asked.

"He said thatthere are several creatures approaching from the South-East." She replied. "Do you know what type of creature he means?"

"There's only one type of creature that lives in the Jundland Wastes. It's Sand People. Of course."

"Sand People?" She questioned, standing up as Luke walked past her and brought out a blaster-rifle and a pair of binoculars from the back of the speeder. "Wait, that's why you brought that?"

"Come on, let's go have a look." He said, walking past and gesturing for the three of them to follow. **"** Come on **."**

He gave another follow-me gesture before running off towards the rock formations.

"Luke, wait! What are Sand People?"

There was no reply. She turned to the droids.

"Do either of you two know?"

"I do not know Miss Rey. There is no record of them in my memory banks."

R2 beeped a negative answer as they followed after Luke.

He hadn't gone very far. He was resting on a large rock formation, peering through binoculars.

"Do you see anything?" She asked as they approached.

" are two Bantha's down there but I don't see any - Wait a second **."**

"What is it?"

"There's Sand People alright. I can see one of them now **."**

A sudden, harsh pain flashed in the back of her head. It stung so painfully and she automatically clapped a hand to her.

"LUKE!" She yelled as something jumped out in front of the binoculars, making loud, guttural noises. She assumed that this was a Sand Person - a humanoid figure wearing baggy brown clothes and a robe, wearing a belt over their chest and round their waist. He held a spear his hands and a strange bag-like mask over his face. 3POscreamed behind her and judging from the sound, fell over **.**

Rey gripped her staff harder and attempted to lurch forward as Luke tried to raise the blaster-rifle. The Sand Person shoved Luke backwards,the blaster falling out of his grip. She swung her staff round, squarely hitting it in the legs with a sharp thump. In rage, the Sand Person attempted hit the two of them with his spear. Luke dodged as Rey slammed her staff in it's pelvis area with all of her strength. There was a dull cracking noise as she broke a bone, she guessed. Luke scampered backwards towards her.

The Sand Person raised his spear in the air, letting a series of guttural screeches. She glanced behind her for a second. There were no other Sand People.

 _OOWF!_ It had painful jabbed her in the chest, swiping at her quarterstaff and pulling her from grip as she fell backwards onto the hard sand. It threw the staff further down into the rock formations.

"Shavit!" She swore angrily as the Sand Person stepped forward, letting out a series of more guttural noises and hitting Luke hard in the head. His head fell backwards, his eyes closed and landing with a dull thump on the sand.

"Luke!" Rey had a sudden feeling of deja-vu to Finn in the snow on Starkiller Base. She quickly scrambled through her bag, looking for the blaster that Han had given her a few days ago… Not even… It felt like a decade ago…

By the time, she had pulled the small blaster out and turned the safety off, turning around ready to aim, the Sand Person was gone… _So was Luke!_ Shavit! Shavit! She had found and lost Luke Skywalker!

She got her feet, bringing a cloud of sand with her. The Sand Person, with another one was walking away… They looked like they were carrying something… Luke!

She ran towards them, clambering over rocks. She aimed at one of their heads. She almost had it lined up perfectly when they dropped whatever they were carrying - most likely Luke, it had to be - and went over to the speeder, beginning to take it apart.

 _No you don't_! She aimed at another one of the Sand People when a series of strange screeches met her ears **.** She jumped, dropping the blaster, and whirled around. There was a strange brown-robed creature, making the noises in the middle of the rocks, walking towards them. Beneath that he wore robes… But so were the Sand People. The Sand People made worried grunting noises and ran away, seeming scared. Rey grabbed the blaster and ran over to Luke. He laid splayed out in the sand, his eyes still closed. Alive, just knocked out.

The hooded creaturewas still walking forward towards whirled towards it, aiming the blaster directly at it's chest.

"Don't come any closer. I'm warning you." She gritted her teeth.

* * *

For a second, Obi-Wan thought his heart had stopped beating. That was, of course, until he realised that the girl in front of him wasn't Leia. Her face did not resemble Padme. Her face was less doll-like. Her nose had a different, larger shape. Her cheekbones stuck out less. Her face and nose was covered in freckles whereas Leia's wasn't.

But she had a strong presence in the Force. Strong but ripped and jagged. This girl did not belong here?

 _Who was she?_

* * *

It held up its hands, revealing pale humanoid hands that reached up and pulled his hood down. An old, desert-worn face with grey facial hair and short grey hair on top of his head… Which he appeared to be losing. Grey eyes burned out of his face. Those eyes had seen a lot of pain. Pain which he was still struggling to cope with, he carried it around with him.

"Hello there." The old man said.

"Who are you?" She asked, moving her finger to rest on the trigger.

"Perhaps this is a conversation better suited to somewhere safer."

"Who are you?" She repeated. "What do you want?"

"I can help him."

' _Is Master Luke okay?_ ' The question came from a series of worried beeps came from behind her. R2…

She paused for a moment. He wasn't lying but he wasn't willing to answer her questions. If Jakku had taught her anything, it was that if people were avoiding your questions it was generally a bad sign. _But what if the Sand People came back with reinforcements…_

"Help him." She ordered the old man, lowering the blaster and turning the safety on. She shoved it back into her bag. Her hand grazed the cool metal of the Skywalker lightsabre. She leaned over the rock formation next to her, picking up her staff, that laid half-buried by sand.

The old man bent down and checked Luke's pulse. As he put his hands on either side of his temple, she heard the now-familiar sound of R2's worried beeps. She turned around and there, the silver body mostly hidden, was the astromech who had apparently managed to wedge himself into the corner of a small rock formation. She bent down to his scope-level again and she realised just how much she missed BB-8 all over again.

"It's okay, R2. He'll be fine." She smiled weakly.

' _Will he?'_ R2 beeped back.

"Come here, my little friend. Don't be afraid." The old man replied to him before she did."Oh, don't worry. He'll be alright."

Luke started to move his head from side to sideas though he was having a nightmare. She reached out and put his hand on his shoulder. It wasn't as bony as she originally thought he would be.

"What did you do to him?" She demanded as Luke blinked and sat up.

"See, he's fine." The old man replied. "Rest easy, son. You've had a busy day."

Luke reached up, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You okay?" He asked her. He was the second person to ask her that.

… _Like Finn..._

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so… My head hurts a bit."

"You might have a concussion."

"You're fortunate to be all in one piece."The old man piped up.

Rey blinked. She'd forgotten about him. Judging for the way Luke's eyes were widening, he had noticed him until now. He blinked quickly and put his hand back onto the sand.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright." He replied, looking up and properly looking at the old man. He blinked again. _Maybe we should get you checked out…_ "Ben? Ben Kenobi? Boy, am I glad to see you!"

"You're Ben Kenobi?" She questioned. Ben glanced at her. Something niggled at the back of her head.

' _Kenobi?_ ' R2 beeped.

She glanced back at the droid, hovering at her side. How did you get out of there?

"Hope you're happy now." She grumbled to the astromech. His receptor stared at her indignantly.

"The Jundland Wastes are not to be travelled lightly." Ben told them.

Was he reprimanding them?

Luke started to move. She reached down and took his hand, helping pull him to his feet. He groaned and hobbled over to a nearby rock, resting on it.

Was it rude to say that he was heavier than she thought he would be? He wasn't as heavy as BB-8 or the piles of mechanicals pieces she'd dragged across Jakku on her sled. She had no idea what was rude and what wasn't anymore. Things that were fine, and for some things expected, was rude everywhere else as she learnt from the Resistance.

"Tell me young Luke, what bring you out this far?" Ben asked Luke, glancing briefly at her as though it was her fault. Rey adjusted herself, putting pressure onto a different foot, sinking slightly in the sand.

Luke gestured to R2. "This little droid."

' _Me?_ ' He beeped.

Ben glanced at the droid.

 _You better recognise him! If we came out all this way, gotten beaten up for nothing I'll sell you back to the Jawa's myself!_

"I think he's searching for his former master. But I've never seen such devotion in a droid before." Luke continued.

The astromech made a sad noise that was more of an expression of sadness than actual words. Luke looked nervous all of a sudden. Rey tightened her grip on her quarterstaff.

"He, ah claims to be the property of an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Is he a relative of yours, do you know who's talking about?" Luke asked, staring at the old man.

The old man's expression turned rapidly from calm to being slightly horrified, his eyes going wide as moved his gaze from Luke to the sand. He looked as though something was finally making sense as the breeze messed up his grey hair.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi?"Ben repeated, lowering himself onto a rock. **"** Obi-Wan… Now that's aname I've not heard in a long time. A long time."

Ben's eyes widened as he said the bit as though emphasizing just how long it had been. _What is going on with you old man?_

Luke glanced at Rey. He must have sensed what she was sensing. Like a minor itch at the back of her head.

"I think my Uncle knows him. He said he was dead." Luke said, more to himself than either of them.

"Oh, he's not dead. Not yet."

' _Stop being cryptic!_ ' She wanted to snap but that would get them nowhere.

"You know him?"

The old man smiledslightly as though he was reminiscing.

"Well of course I know him." Ben tapped his chest a few times. "He's me."

Well that explained the feeling. His name was a lie… Why though? Wait… Ben...

" _BEN!" Han Solo yelled across the platform to Kylo Ren._

Was this man Kylo Ren's namesake? This old man?

' _Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan! It is you!_ ' R2 beeped, rocking slightly.

Rey studied him. He stared back at her, hard.

"I haven't gone by the name of Obi-Wan since oh, before you were born." He told Luke.

There was a pressure on the back of Rey's tongue like she had placed a seed there. Was that another lie?

"Well then the droid does belong to you." Luke told him, gesturing to the astromech.

Obi-Wan's eyebrows shot up slightly as though he was surprised.

"Don't ever seem to remember owning a droid."

Pressure on Rey's tongue increased slightly.

' _R4?_ ' R2 beeped questioningly.

"Very interesting." Obi-Wan murmured as in the distance, the sounds of Sand People's screeching met her ears. She whipped her head in that direction.

They weren't here yet but they were getting closer.

"I think we better get indoors. The Sand People are easily startled but they'll soon be back." Obi-Wan informed them as he got up from the rock and started to walk away. "And in greater numbers."

"And where do you suggest we go?" Rey questioned, placing one of her quarterstaff in the sand, leaning on it slightly. Luke paused, glancing at the old man.

' _What about 3PO?_ ' R2 beeped in concern.

"3PO." Luke remembered, running off to where a golden form laid shining in the sun. She followed him.

One of the Sand People had detached his arm. It laid further down from the droid. Luke grabbed it on his way. As she and Luke helped the droid sit up, she had to wonder if she was going to spend her entire time here looking after this golden menace?

"Where am I? I must have taken a bad step." 3PO said.

Rey glanced at Obi-Wan. He was staring behind them. She followed his gaze. The suns were visible over the rock formations of the wastes. No Sand People. Not yet. But they were getting closer and closer, she could feel it, like a pressure in the air around them.

"I don't think I can make it. You go on Master Luke. There's no sense you risking for yourself on my account. I'm done for."

' _You over-dramatic drama droid._ ' Rey thought staring at 3P0's golden head.

' _Where are the Sand People?_ ' R2 asked worriedly.

"Not here yet, but they're on there way. They'll be here soon." She murmured in reply, staring at the rocks. The pressure in the air was slowly increasing. Closer. Closer. She glanced back at Luke as she felt Obi-Wan's piercing gaze on her.

"No you're not. What kinda talk is that?" He kindly reprimanded the golden droid.

' _The practical kind_.' She thought in reply, not wanting to know Luke's response to her answer.

"Quickly." Obi-Wan insisted. "They're on the move."

She helped to heave the droid up to his feet. He was one of the heaviest droids she'd ever had to help move.

' _If I ever get the chance to leave you, 3PO, I'm going to leave you._ '

* * *

His house was a ruined figure on top of the rocks, a single lone water vaporator outside. The inside wasn't much better. The white walls were dirty and grimy, everything looked like it had been shoved into the main room… Was there even another room in this place?

"So who might you be?" Obi-Wan asked from where he sat. Rey looked at him as she sat down on the floor, crossing her legs and balancing her quarterstaff across them.

' _I'm nobody._ ' She was tempted to say, it was on the tip of her tongue.

"Rey." She replied.

"Rey." Obi-Wan repeated. "Rey?"

" _Rey. These are your first steps!"_ The whisper was licking at her eardrums.

"No last name."

So it was you. What do you have to do with me?

"How did you end up here?"

"Her ship crashed. I found her on the property." Luke summarised from where he was fixing 3PO's arm back.

"So does Owen know you're here?"

"No. We wanted to get the R2 unit back he noticed."

"I think we're too late for that." Rey said.

"Yeah." Luke agreed quietly, as he fixed a screw in.

"Does your uncle know about this message?"

"He knew there was a message for you… But if he knew it was you, why did he saw you were dead?" Rey wondered out loud.

"Because he feared Luke would follow old Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade like his father did." Obi-Wan replied, glancing at her.

Luke whirled around, 3PO's mostly fixed arm forgotten at the mention. All of a sudden he looked like a young child. Well even younger than he already looked.

"You knew my father?" He practically demanded, eyes narrowing slightly.

"I did." He replied. "I was once a Jedi Knight, the same as your father. We fought together in the Clone Wars."

"No, my father didn't fight the wars. He was a navigator on a spice freighter." Luke corrected him, smiling slightly as he turned back to finishing off 3PO's arm.

Obi-Wan stroked his beard as he glanced at her, frowning slightly.

"That's your uncle told you. He didn't hold your father's ideals, thought he should have stayed here and not gotten involved." Obi-Wan looked away.

"I wish I'd known him." Luke murmured, more to himself as he put the screw driver down.

"He was the best star pilot in the galaxy. And a cunning warrior. And he was a good friend. I understand you've become quite a good pilot yourself."

As Luke shrugged off the compliment, Rey frowned. _What are you up to?_

There was a slight itch at the back of her tongue. She gripped her staff.

"Which reminds me." Obi-Wan informed them, glancing at Rey with a brief frown.

"What?" She mouthed, raising an eyebrow.

She studied him as he walked over to a pile of junk. Then again, nothing was junk to a scavenger from Jakku.

"I have something here for you." The old man said to Luke as he went through the chest. "Your father would have wanted you to have this when you were old enough. But your uncle wouldn't allow it."

This presence was not as strong as Luke's nor as bright. Instead it was tinged with sadness, like a ghost hanging over him. She frowned. What happened to make you so sad?

Luke finished screwing in 3PO's arm, looking over before he cleaning some grime off of 3PO.

"Sir if you'll not be needing me, I'll close down for a while." 3PO piped up.

"Sure thing, go ahead." He replied distantly, watching Obi-Wan.

He gets up and as Obi-Wan walks back over with it.

"This is your father's lightsabre." Obi-Wan informed Luke. Rey's hand jumped her bag where the exact same lightsabre was. "This was the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster."

He handed the weapon over to Luke and Rey realised at what part of his life she had fallen into. Luke ignited the blade, the now familiar sound and bright blue light of the sabre appearing.

"An elegant weapon for a more civilised age." Obi-Wan sat down, watching Luke. "For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times. Before the Empire."

He switched the blade off, glancing at Rey, his cheeks going red.

"How did my father die?" Luke asked, his blonde hair falling into his eyes. Maybe she should leave? This seemed quite private… The sadness suddenly felt suffocating.

"A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine… Until he turned evil." Obi-Wan told him.

Suddenly it felt like there was a durasteel coating on her tongue. It was a lie and it tasted horrible, the weight felt like she could barely move her tongue.

"Helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights." The way Obi-Wan looked directly at Luke as he spoke, unblinking, it was like how Beru emphasised the lies to Rey back at the homestead.

"He betrayed and murdered your father."

As Luke looked down in shock, the taste of the lie was now spreading to the back of her throat. Why was he lying? If his father wasn't murdered by Darth Vader and he was still alive, why was Luke living with Owen and Beru?

"Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force."

She stared at the dirty pale flooring. That wasn't a lie but she still had the aftertaste of durasteel in her throat.

"The Force?"

"The Force is what gives the Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together." Obi-Wan informed them.

"How poetic." Rey said. Obi-Wan shot her a look.

' _Master Luke, the message?_ ' R2 chirped.

"You want to play it _now_?" She glowered at the astromech.

"We saw part of the message-" Luke started to explain as the droid's receptor light faded and the same blue hologram appeared on the grimy floor. It was the same young woman, dressed in white, hair elaborately styled

"General Kenobi," The young woman spoke in a clipped core accent, "years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person. But my ship has fallen under attack ad I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion in the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid, safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."

The young woman faded from view as her hologram switched the recorder off. _Who are you? Why do I feel like I know._

Obi-Wan stroked his beard and glanced between the two of them. "The two of you must learn the ways of the Force. If you are to come with me to Alderaan."

"The two of us? Alderaan?" Luke asked in surprise.

"Yes, your friend is Force-sensitive. As are you?"

Luke let out a disbelieving chuckle. "I'm not going to Alderaan. I've gotta get home. It's late, I'm in for it as it is."

"Are you serious?" Rey demanded, practically jumping to her feet. Her staff fell onto the floor with a dull thump. "She needs our help."

"Rey is right, Luke. I'm getting too old for this sort of thing."

He glanced around considering for a moment. He wanted to come. She could feel it. He was afraid.

"It's okay to be scared." She said softly.

"I'm not scared." He glowered at her. It wasn't very convincing, his voice cracked. "I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire. I hate it but there's nothing I can do about it right now."

A look of realisation crossed Obi-Wan's aged face. "That's your uncle talking." He practically reprimanded him.

Suddenly Rey felt alone. Completely alone and scared… It was coming from Luke.

"Boy, my uncle. How I am ever going to explain this?" He grumbled to himself.

"Learn about the Force, Luke. You need to learn about the Force."

"Look I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can get a transport there to Mos Eisley or wherever you're going." He tried to reason with him but Rey felt like it was mostly to himself rather than anyone else.

"You must do what you feel is right, of course." The old man relented.

"Luke," Rey stood up, "you don't think that she needs your help? That message came to you."

"Yeah, by accident. I can't go, Rey."

With that he headed down the stairs. Rey glanced at Obi-Wan.

"You know you're Force-Sensitive."

"Yes." She admitted, feeling like a slight weight had been taken off of her shoulders.

"You're not from here." He murmured.

Rey jolted back. _How do you know that?!_

"What makes you say that?" She questioned.

"Your Force Presence is ripped and jagged."

 _Because I'm from a different time…_

"I'll go after him." Rey decided, taking her staff in hand and following Luke's path.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: … Sorry this took so long… I've finished uni. Permanently. And the world is terrifying. I've just graduated so anyone who wondered where I've been, there you go. Thoughts on Rey's force perception? I've derived it from her** **psychometry but I'm unsure on how I'll write it in future chapters. I'm open to comments and suggestions. I gave myself the challenge of not watching the trailer until I'd completed this chapter. Now I have! :) But it's too late here for me to watch it right now :(**

* * *

The light burnt her eyelids as Rey came running out of the hovel. Luke was staring out at the sandy ridges of the cliff.

"Luke."

He whirled around, blue eyes wide.

"Sorry," She said, slinging her quarterstaff over her shoulder and resting a hand on the leather strap, "didn't mean to scare you… You alright?"

"Can you believe him?" Luke sighed. "My father, a Jedi. Yeah right."

"Yeah, I do. He was telling the truth."

"You're force-sensitive or whatever the kriff that Ben was on about?"

"I've seen a lot of proof over the last couple of days. I know you're Force-sensitive." She replied gently.

 _These are your first steps…_

Rey shifted her feet.

He laughed slightly as he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't even know what the Force is."

"Me either." She admitted, a hint of a smile twitching at her lips despite the fact that her heart was slowly sinking in her chest.

Luke glanced at the lightsabre still in his hand. The light of the twin suns beamed off of the metal.

"Do you think this was really his?" His question was a mumble.

Obi-Wan and Maz had insisted that the lightsabre had belonged to Luke and his father. Anakin. She didn't know him. Killed by Darth Vader… Why did everything keep coming back to him? Kylo Ren was obsessed with him. Why?

"Yeah. I do."

She could show him the one she had. Explain that she knew because she was from the future, that she had the exact same one from a different time. But she was frozen. Fingers still clenched around the leather strap.

"Then why was I raised here?" He sighed, "if my father was some famous Jedi general, then did I end up here? My mother… She must have cared about me. They must have had a relationship, right? Otherwise I would have ended up with someone else instead of with my aunt and uncle. Do you think he knows who my mother was?"

"He might. He seems to know an awful kriff-load about your life." She grinned slightly. "It's kinda worrying if you ask me."

Luke glanced at the speeder. "You think we'll all fit in there?"

"We'll manage it." Rey replied.

* * *

They did manage it. She was, however, squeezed uncomfortably in between R2 and 3P0 as the landspeeder raced along the sand as they neared a thick black plume of smoke rising to the sky.

Heart pounding, she gestured towards it.

"Is that normal?"

"No." Luke replied.

As they drove closer and closer, her stomach wrapped itself in knots. Something bad was going to happen. She could feel it, rushing along her arms.

What was it? What could be happening?

They pulled up alongside the big burning husk of metal. Shards of metal covered the ground. She clambered out, lungs tightening.

Little bodies, around about the size of BB and covered in robes, lay sprawled around the ground. Her ears roared and her heart pounded against her chest. A spectre hovering over them going to _killkillkill... BurningScorching the ground_ …

Her knees gave in and she fell into the sand. No, she couldn't get in. Had to get away. Had to live.

Rey took a deep breath to calm and separate her mind from the violent energy that clung to the area. She instantly regretted it as she breathed in the smoke, spluttering and coughing.

A shaking hand brushed against her and she peered up.

Obi-Wan was frowning.

R2 and 3P0 shuffled past her beeping.

"Are you okay?" The old man asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. It just gets overwhelming sometimes."

"When you train, that will stop. You'll become more aware of the Force around you and learn how to avoid it."

"I don't even know what causes it." She admitted as something wet dropped onto her - Luke's - top. Water. She rubbed the tears away from her face.

"If the Force wills it or if there's some kind of violent energy." He gestured to the corpses.

"But I felt Luke's emotions earlier."

"He can't stop himself from broadcasting yet." He replied, walking around the wreckage site.

Luke was studying the wreck when she looked over at him. Did he not feel the violence?

"Any idea what happened?"

He blinked.

"Sand People, I would say." He ran a hand over a piece of metal. "It looks like the Sand People, alright. Look there's Gaderffii stick, Bantha tracks but I've never heard of them hitting anything this big before."

"They didn't." Obi-Wan informed them, his steely eyes studying the scene.

"But someone wants us to think they did... What would they have to gain?" Rey questioned, furrowing her eyebrows. While it was a common thing on Jakku with plenty of Unkar's mercenaries stealing from other scavengers. Everyone else was too scared of them to speak up against them.

"People around here are already scared of Tusken Raiders." Luke told her. "They'd have nothing to gain."

"The tracks are side by side. Sand People normally walk single file to hide their numbers." The old man said, gesturing to them with wrinkled finger.

Luke bent down, examining the little Jawa corpses. "These are the same Jawas that sold us R2 and 3P0."

"It wasn't revenge against the Raiders - Luke!" She called, suddenly feeling boneless. "Someone's after the droids!"

"These blast points... Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise." Obi-Wan murmured, hobbling over to the big vehicle.

"What would Stormtroopers want with the droids? They don't - If they learnt who they sold them to that, that would lead them back... home." Luke's eyes widened, his voice wavering.

He took off running. Fear and worry clinging to him like the sand that was almost certainly in his boots.

"Wait! Luke! It's too dangerous." The old man called.

He didn't listen as he clambered into the speeder and started the engine.

"Luke!" She called, running towards him.

The speeder whirled to life and shot off into the distance, leaving behind a brown cloud of sand in the air.

"You won't catch him." Obi-Wan informed her simply as she came to a stop, spluttering on the sand grains.

"Don't you care?" She questioned through gritted teeth. Really? What was with him? So he was some fancy Jedi General. Big deal.

"Look at me." He replied, gesturing to himself. "I can't run after him."

"You didn't even try."

* * *

She saw the smoking homestead before she felt the anger and heartbreak. It slammed into her chest as she saw him, crying in front of two smoking skeletons.

Her face flushed, a warm slimy feeling rising up in her throat. She collapsed to the ground, choking as her knees slammed into the hard sand.

She forced herself to crawl over to him and did the only thing she could think of. She wrapped her arms around him. He buried his head into the crook of her neck as he sobbed. His skinny shoulders shook.

 _Nononono...Deaddead...Can'tbedead...whywhywhywhy_

It battered the front of her mind. The warm presence of Luke was aching, screaming with agony. She could feel him clenching his fists, fingertips nipping at her skin as he balled the fabric in his grip. He took a shaking breath.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

He let go of her top and pulled back. His eyes, puffy and red. The swirling blue stood out as they started to fill with tears once more.

"I-I wish I'd said something to them… The last thing we ever said to each other was a stupid argument."

"Don't." Rey found herself pleading with him. "Don't blame yourself. You didn't know."

The two of them stayed there what seemed like hours. After a private burial, they regretfully turned back and headed back to Obi-Wan.

Luke was still sniffling as they approached the burning wreckage. She took his hand and stayed silent. He glanced at her.

The crackling of fire caught her attention. 3P0 was dumping her jawa corpse into a fire. The two of the climbed out of the speeder.

The old man walked almost listlessly over to them. His face still calm and blank. Rey wanted to punch him, shover her quarterstaff right up his arse.

"There's nothing you could have done. You'd have been killed too. And the droids would now be in the hands of the Empire." Obi-Wan informed him calmly. Far too calmly.

"I want to come with you to Alderaan. There's nothing for me here now. I want to learn the ways of the force and become a Jedi like my father." Luke replied just as calmly, despite his bloodshot eyes.

Was that his concussion talking? Something felt right in the air around them - it felt like the Force - yet it felt horrible. Off. He needed time. Heal from his head injury and grieve.

"Kriff off." She snapped.

The two of them turned to look her. Did she just say that outloud? Oops.

"Luke, you don't have to go." She protested before turning the old man. "He has no obligation to you or the Force and he is kriffing grieving."

"I believe he can make his own decisions."

Of course he can. She never said that he couldn't. She just didn't think it was healthy. It would be the start of a revenge quest and despite what Obi-Wan seemed to be trying to imply, he didn't have any obligation to become a Jedi… Was she disrupting the timeline? Or was she talking about herself rather than Luke?

She had no obligation to the world. No obligation to become a Jedi even after Maz had brought it up. So why did _she_ want to be a Jedi? She wanted to belong. She wanted to help people. Maybe Luke did too.

It was an awful way to lose the ones you love and just finding their bodies there. Dumped like trash. She could feel the bile beginning to rise in her throat again.

Her vague memories of her parents and them leaving her had become fuzzier and fuzzier until she started to believe that they were dreams, made up from being unceremoniously dumped into the desert sands. Then she had picked up that lightsabre and a few things had come flooding back. Not enough. But it was something.

Like that memory of her parents talking. Her mother telling her to finish her sums. It still wasn't getting any clearer.

Obi-Wan glanced in her direction.

"And what about you Rey?"

"I don't have anything else either." She sighed.

She hated how true that was.

* * *

The outskirts of Mos Eisley were filled with people and sandy coloured buildings. What was it that the old man had called it? A hive of scum and villainy? She wanted to laugh. Didn't look that bad. Clearly he had never been to Jakku or Nar Shaddaa, a place which Jess and Poe had talked about.

She held out a hand, wiggling her fingers to feel the air flowing through the spaces.

"Miss Rey, what are you doing?" 3P0 questioned, anxiously.

"Enjoying being the ride."

"I'm glad you enjoy my flying." Luke pointed out. She could see the hint of a smile in the wing mirror. At least she was helping him feel a bit better.

"It feels nice to not be the one flying."

"We should have a race at some point." He suggested.

"Oh, I'll win."

"Really?" He turned his head slightly. "Beggar's Canyon."

"I'm not stupid enough to take you on on your home turf." She laughed, pulling her arm into the speeder as they approach a barrier of dirty stormtroopers.

Instead of speeding up and driving off, he slowed down and pulled to a stop in front of them. She looked at him. Why was he stopping?

"How long have you had these droids?" The one with the red shoulder patch asked

"About three or four seasons." Luke replied.

"They're up for sale if you want them." Obi-Wan added with a hint of a grin.

Wait, what? What the kriff?

"Let me see your identification."

Her heart felt like it was about to burst right out of her chest. She moved her hand and rested a hand on her staff, gripping it until her knuckles turned white. She had her own blaster, even if that got knocked out of her hands. She didn't have to get the sabre out just yet.

"You don't need to see his identification." The old man waved a hand as he talked.

"We don't need to see his identification." Shoulder patch trooper echoed, glancing at the others.

One of the others adjusted the grip on his blaster.

"These aren't the droids you're looking for." He told him.

"These are the droids we're looking for." The trooper repeated.

Her fingers started to throb slightly from her tight grip on the staff.

"He can go about his business."

"You can go about your business." Shoulder Patch agreed, walking away from the

Luke's eyes followed the stormtrooper

"Move along."

"Move along. Move along." He ordered them, sounding a bit agitated.

Luke started the speeder up again and he drove through the streets. Her grip on the staff relaxed slightly. Her heart was still pounding in her chest as she shuffled forward in her seat.

"What the kriff did you do that for? What if they'd have wanted to buy the droids?" Rey asked him, staring at the old man.

"They don't." He replied, glancing at her.

"You didn't know that." She told him, her thoughts wandered to Unkar Plutt and how badly he wanted poor BB8. Any one of them could turn around and run after them, put a blaster to their heads… She'd deal with it if it came to that. She had three weapons on her. If it came to it, then she would do what she had to.

"Where are your parents?" Obi-Wan asked. "I'm sure they wouldn't approve of your language."

"They dumped on Jakku when I was little. Never heard from them since. They told me they were coming back."

"How long were you waiting?" Luke's question was gentle. Not like the annoying calmness of the old man.

"Over a decade." Rey told them.

She swallowed, trying to ignoring the sadness welling up inside her.

Luke thought that this place with the bustling crowd and many, many buildings was the furthest point away from the brightest part of the galaxy? In a competition between the worst planets, she was sure Jakku would win. It was vast amounts of pure sand and junkyards, there was no civilisation like Mos Eisley.

There was so many people here. Everything was loud. People walking, talking, breathing. Someone was shrieking with laughter as Luke parked the speeder. A Jawa walked up, hands wandering over the vehicle.

"I can't abide those Jawas. Disgusting creatures." 3P0 ever so kindly enlightened them. She was very glad that she'd avoided the droid at all costs on the D'Qar base.

Luke climbed out and shoved the creature along, mumbling to himself in his own, guttural sounding language.

"Those disgusting creatures brought you to Luke." Rey reminded them, heaving herself out.

She glanced around, a couple of people were walking past, a few hanging around but no massive crowds. Regardless, it felt like they were all staring at her, watching her. Just waiting for her to make a mistake. Like Unkar Plutt was breathing down her neck. Was he even alive at this point in time?

"I can't understand how we got by those troopers. I thought we were dead." Luke

"They wouldn't have killed us, would they?" Her mind cast itself back to the rumours of stormtroopers that had circulated through the outpost the day she met Finn.

 _They killed them all. They'd done nothing and they slaughtered them._

"Yes." He responded, frowning at her. The only stormtroopers she'd seen were the ones on Starkiller base, all of which she'd avoided. Would they have killed her? Did that mean Finn had killed people? Had that made him walk away?

She missed him.

"The Force can have a strong influence on a weak mind." Obi-Wan was informing Luke.

She'd used mind tricks before… Taken away his will but it had been an entirely different situation. Not that she could take the old man seriously with that hood flopping over his face as he talked. He looked like an idiot. But that could just be because he was starting to annoy her.

"And what if his buddies realise that something's up?" She considered.

"We'll be long gone by then." He replied.

"Not if they're starting to realise now."

The old man shot her annoyed look. Well, she assumed he was annoyed but with his hood covering his face she couldn't quite tell. She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. For one long moment that seemed to stretch out forever, he stared at her.

She shifted uncomfortably, heart pounding in her ears.

"You remind me of someone." Obi-Wan told her, his voice sounding worn out as though just the memories themselves were tiring him out.

"From pointing out the obvious?"

"No. From criticising everything."

"Maybe you need it." Rey pointed out, raising her eyebrows.

Oops. He didn't look pleased.

"You really think we're going to find a pilot here that will take us to Alderaan?" Luke piped up, gesturing at the round building.

"Most of the best freighter pilots can be found here. And watch your step. This place can be a little rough." Obi-Wan told them as he walked to the entrance.

"How do you know that?" Rey called after him.

He didn't reply.

"He means smugglers." She glanced at Luke.

"I'm ready for anything." He said, more to himself.

Feeling a small grin stretch across her face, she crept forward. Reached out with shaky hands and grabbed his sides.

He jumped, face

"Thought you were ready for anything." She laughed.

"Very funny." He tried to scowl but the slight grin threatening to stretch across his face ruined the image.

"Let's go." She said.

"Come on R2." 3P0 chided the astromech.

Rey could hear all of the commotion going on inside as they headed inside the building. She could face it. She'd faced the loud sounds of Poe's eating, she could face this.

It wasn't like Maz's castle with its wide rooms and massive walls. It was small and cramped. Everyone was talking and drinking. The music thudded in her ears.

Heart pounding against her chest, she felt like she was rooted to the spot. Her fingers tingled. She could run. If she left, nobody would know they weren't looking at her.

Or she could stay but keep closer to the wall where nobody would notice her.

Rey swallowed and took a long, slow deep breath. In… Out… In… Out… Just like Jess had taught her.

Obi-Wan was talking to pilot in a dark flight suit. Behind him was - Oh… Oh Force!

Wait, be reasonable Rey. That might not be Chewie. That could be any Wookie. Just a normal, random Wookie.

Taking another deep breath, she glanced at Luke. As one, the three of them walked down the steps.

"Hey!" An angry voice snapped. Rey jumped, hand snapping to rest on her staff and head whipping round to the source of the voice. It was the bartender, gesturing to the droids.

"We don't serve their kind here." He grunted.

"What?" Luke asked, his face blank and confused.

"Your droids. They'll have to wait outside. We don't want them here."

Luke said something to 3P0. But she didn't hear whatever was said. The crowds were sniggering and whispering amongst themselves as she looked around, trying to ignore the feeling of the dark walls pushing in and the threat of not being able to breath.

She continued to take deep breaths as Luke lead her to sit down near Obi-Wan. It might not be Chewie. Might not be Chewie.

"And droids are going to drink alcohol because?" She muttered to Luke as they took their seats. "Do you want to put the lightsabre in my bag?"

Instantly, she regretted asking. How would she explain that she had two identical lightsabres? But he looked so obvious walking around with it swinging from his belt. If someone questioned him, he probably wouldn't know what to say about it… And if that someone was a stormtrooper…

"No, it's fine." He answered before turning to tug on the bartender's shirt.

Her cheeks burned as he did so. For a moment, she didn't know whether she wanted to the floor to swallow her up in embarrassment or if she should slap Luke's hand down.

He ordered … something… The bartender grudgingly gave them two cups. Whatever was in it, he knew what the liquid was as he took a big gulp of it.

Hesitantly, she sniffed it. Nope. Not water. She put the drink back on the counter.

"How are we paying for this?"

"It's on tab for when we leave. I'm sure Ben won't mind paying. I'm hungry. You hungry?"

"I'm alright." Rey smiled politely. She'd eaten yesterday and while she knew it wasn't healthy, it was something she was used to. A familiar pain.

"You recognise any of these species?"

"Not really." He glanced around. "Erm… the Jawa that's about it."

"How do you not really recognise a species?"

"It's been awhile." Luke smiled.

The sounds of a Wookie muttering caught her ears. It was too loud in here for her to fully make out. She leaned in closer.

 _Wham!_

Something banged into her. She glanced down to see a blonde head. Luke.

She frowned and glanced behind him. Two men, neither a species that she recognised. The one with a big furry head and giant eyes were a complete and utter mystery.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"It's fine. That nerd-herder needs to be more careful."

The alien growled something in his language as Luke went back to his drink. She glowered at them, recognising and not liking the look in their eyes. Like the eyes of a thief who has found an easy target.

"He doesn't like you." The other man ever so politely informed Luke.

"Good for him." She replied, swinging herself around to face him.

"He doesn't like you either." He turned to her.

She shrugged. He wasn't her problem. He could go kriff himself for all she cared.

"I'm sorry." Luke said, looking back at the bar top.

The man reached out and grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around.

Instantly, Rey was on her feet. He was going to hurt her friend (there was a small part of her brain giddy at the thought - Luke Skywalker was her friend). She pulled her quarterstaff off and gripped it tightly. Threateningly she hoped.

"I don't like you either. You just watch yourself. We're wanted men. I've got a death sentence on twelve systems." They were too busy informing Luke.

"I'll be careful." He said.

"If you really did, you wouldn't be picking on him." She told them before waving her hand and trying to summon the Force. "Go back to your drinks."

Fuzzy head tilted his head to one side. The other started to openly laugh. Shavit, that didn't work.

"Who's this, your girlfriend? You need your girlfriend to protect you?" He sneered at Luke, not even paying attention to her. As though the idea of her protecting him would goad him into snapping. She didn't know him all that well but she didn't think that would work.

Rey swings the staff into his knee. It hits with a crack and he falls to the floor, clutching his knee.

Fuzzy head ran at her but a worn, wrinkled hand reached out and stopped him.

"These little ones aren't worth the effort." Obi-Wan said before gesturing to the bartender. "Let me get you something."

"There's no need. They were just leaving." Rey replied coldly.

Instead of doing that, Fuzzy Head shoved Luke to the ground. He went flying, knocking a table over and landing in a heap on the ground.

The old man sighed.

A now familiar snap-hiss of a lightsabre igniting met her ears. Obi-Wan's bright blue blade caught the eyes of the crowd. People turned, now curious. Some holding their breath.

Then Fuzzy Head was yelling, his arm now bloody fell to the floor. Still held in its grasp was a blaster.

Luke was staring at the blue plasma, fascinated. Rey studied at the old man's face as he deactivated the blade. People turned back to their drinks and conversation now that the commotion was over.

Rey headed over to where Luke was sitting and held out a hand, trying to ignore the feeling of deja vu. He took her hand and pulled himself to his feet.

"I'm alright." He said, clutching his head as they joined the Obi-Wan and the Hopefully-Random-Wookie. She slung the staff over her head and pulled the leather strap around her shoulders.

"Yeah, that's why you have a hand on your head. Do you want me to take a look?" She asked as they started to walk away.

"No, I'm fine."

"Chewbacca here is first mate on a ship that might suit us." Obi-Wan told them.

Luke glances back at the Wookie, completely unaware of the many, many swear words running through Rey's head. But they all felt woefully inadequate for this entire situation.

Why did she have to land here? Of all the times she could have landed, why now?


End file.
